The present invention, Caladium ‘Poison Dart Frog’, relates to a new and distinct interspecific hybrid of Caladium, hereinafter referred to by its cultivar name, ‘Poison Dart Frog’. ‘Poison Dart Frog’ is a new tropical plant used as a landscape and container plant in tropical and subtropical areas.
The new cultivar was derived from a controlled breeding program conducted by the Inventor at his nursery in Louisville, Ky. The overall purpose of the breeding program is to make selections of Caladium plants with unique coloration and good plant vigor. ‘Poison Dart Frog’ arose from a cross made in August of 2012 between unnamed proprietary Caladium hybrid plants (not patented) from the Inventor's breeding program as both the female and male parents. ‘Poison Dart Frog’ was selected as a single unique plant in July of 2013 from amongst the seedlings derived from the above cross.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by in vitro propagation using meristematic tissue under the direction of the Inventor in Eustis, Fla. in February of 2014. Asexual propagation by in vitro propagation has shown that the characteristics of the new cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.